Sam Coats is running for mayor. You knew that, right? Because I totally forgot.

Well, we just got the press release from Sam Coats' folks informing us who's going to be running his mayoral campaign, and top o' the list is Jason Stanford, who used to call us all the time back when he was campaign manager for some guy named Chris Bell, who, we hear, was trying to be Texas governor quite recently. Stanford's signed on as the "lead consultant" for Coats, who used to be an Eagle Scout (so says his MySpace page), served for a couple years in the state legislature as a Democratic state rep and was once head of Muse Air.

Coats' campaign manager is another Bell boy: Tim McCann, who served as the deputy campaign manager on the Chris Bell for Governor campaign. If you're interested in who's providing "the ethnic media placement services to the campaign," read on after the jump. Oh -- and, Jason, tell Carson I said hello. --Robert Wilonsky

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 22, 2007

*SAM COATS ANNOUNCES CAMPAIGN TEAM*

*Consulting Team Includes **Top**/ /**/State/**/ & National Talent/*

Sam Coats announced today the campaign team he has assembled to guide his campaign for Dallas Mayor.

Jason Stanford of Stanford Campaigns will serve as lead consultant for the Coats campaign. Stanford most recently served as campaign manager for the Chris Bell for Governor Campaign in 2006, and his firm has provided research and communications consulting to over 100 campaigns across the country since opening in 1997.

Alan Secrest of Cooper & Secrest Associates will be the campaign's pollster. Cooper & Secrest Associates, based in Alexandria, VA, is a top national polling firm with extensive experience in local, congressional, and statewide polling. In 2006, Secrest was the lead pollster for Will Pryor's Dallas-area congressional campaign and for Chris Bell's gubernatorial campaign.

James Aldrete of Message Audience & Presentation will execute the campaign's direct mail program. Aldrete, who has been called the state's leading expert in Hispanic media, has previously consulted for numerous North Texas candidates including Martin Frost, Marc Veasey, and Harriet Miller.

Neil Kammerman of Media, Inc. will serve as the campaign's media consultant. Before founding Media, Inc. this year, Kammerman was a partner at Fenn Communications in Washington, DC, where his ads helped elect six new Democratic members of Congress in 2006. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin graduate film school, Kammerman also served as media consultant for Chris Bell's gubernatorial campaign last year.

MediaMadeSimple of Austin, Texas will provide the ethnic media placement services to the campaign. A full-service, multicultural advertising agency, MediaMadeSimple specializes in media placement to the changing faces of America through the eyes of our clients. The firm provides market expertise and helps clients deliver messages that appeal to the emotions and lifestyles of a diverse market.

Dallas fundraising consultant Adrain Noe will direct the campaign's finance operation. Noe has worked for local Dallas-area officeholders and candidates including Eddie Bernice Johnson, Jill Kotvis, and Harriet Miller.

"I'm excited to have this team on board," said Coats. "The experience, knowledge, and skills that these folks bring to the team will help us run an aggressive, disciplined, winning campaign."